Massif MSP for Nonprofits
Cost-effective solutions to accelerate your mission.
501(c)(3) Case Study: Maine Franco-American Genealogical Society
When the Officers and Board of Auburn's Genealogical Society approached
Massif MSP, it was with a limited IT budget that needed to affordably repair mission critical, but failing computers
that were end of life and upgrade older scanners that took too long to scan.
But the society didn't just need IT maintenance, it also has a limited time to meet new objectives,
aging documents needed to be archived before disintegration, combined with limited volunteer time to scan tens of thousands of Lewiston obituaries.
Mindful of the future, they also wanted to future-proof the preservation with OCR, which converts photos of documents to their text, but without ongoing monthly or annual subscription costs.
Two of the computer upgrades showing MFGS's new virtual machine and OCR book scanner; taken at Auburn, Maine's Public Library.
Massif MSP repaired and virtualized some computers, restoring access to historical databases
and sourced how the society could purchase discounted, new equipment within their budget for use with
their current assets and nonprofit status. Massif MSP phased out the greatest cybersecurity risks, removed a malicious program, deployed new discounted equipment, and trained users
at the Library headquarters as well as at a mobile site in cemetery offices. The scanner could account for dual pages in books, and used
lasers to identify and correct for curvature of book pages, in addition to ensuring OCR was included in the one-time price of the scanner. The increased scanner speed can process
hundreds of scans per hour reducing volunteer scanning hours significantly. This has enabled
volunteers to scan more data and plan additional archive projects as they move to digitalize
their offerings to make their library of resources available internationally.
Common Themes, Easy Solutions
The most common issue with nonprofits is how data collection and moving data between required applications takes up the most time for your organization. At Massif MSP, we streamline data management. We ensure we find the most cost-effective solution for implementation to accelerate your mission.
Protect your Donors, Clients, Staff, and Volunteers
Massif MSP gives nonprofits roadmaps on how to migrate to modern information security practices that avoids unnecessary
costly temporary stop-gaps along the way. You depend on your computer systems, and your
community depends on you for your services. One common mistake is having key employees or board members like treasurer/CFO use their personal email accounts to manage accounts for website domains, website hosting electric, or phone;
if they depart on bad terms, experience an accident, or pass, we've had them or the surviving partner raise concerns about or not permit the organization to search the personal laptop and phone to regain access.
For many hosting companies, if you can get someone on the line, they'll require significant time-locked security protocols like snail mail verifications.
Additionally they may have problematic requirements like published board meetings confirming your claims (on the website that you just lost access to), or additional proof if they allow you to regain access.
Another critical but common mistakes non-profits often make is purchasing similar
cybersecurity defenses or analyzing and negotiating on one cybersecurity component correctly, but then buying an overpriced upgrade
because it's from the same company, when financially the consideration to upgrade should have caused a new RFP review of how assets are protected.
A good MSP (preferably one without vendor partnerships) should give a holistic, defense-in-depth
explanation of what purchases most strategically reduce the greatest threats, likelihoods and impacts your organization
may face for threats. [Click here] to discuss what your organization is looking for, to ask about a cybersecurity assessment, or
to explore if Massif MSP is the right partner to help you continue your mission with confidence.
